"In my sermon-writing cell, surrounded by a feast of commentary, I find myself casting a wandering (and wondering) eye out the window toward the village square, where this gospel, my message, will finally have to live. What if the sermon could be conceived in the very soil in which it has to take root? While many of us consider the Bible to be the favorite storybook into which we want to climb, we nevertheless often find its language inaccessible, its setting unfamiliar, and the apprehension of its real meanings for daily life frustrating to pursue. In our frankly market-driven society, where such a difficult story must compete with many other stories that are both easier to access and seemingly easier to inhabit, the gospel story calls forth faithful and inspired interpreters and equally faithful and inspired tellers."